A double double for VX Racing at Croft

Colin Turkington and Yvan Muller gave VX Racing their first 1-2 finish of the 2005 season at Croft last weekend, quickly followed by their second, making it by far the most successful weekend of the year so far for the team that has dominated the British Touring Car Championship for the past four seasons. We caught up with the two race winners at Croft to find out if this was a sign of things to come as the championship enters the home straight.

23 year-old Colin Turkington is in his first season as a works driver with the VX Racing team this year and it started well at Donington Park back in April when he took pole position for the opening race of the season. Unfortunately there was no dream start and the Irish racer had to be content with fifth in that race.

Qualifying at Croft once again saw Turkington put his Astra Sport Hatch on pole. And this time he was able to lead through the first corner and through to the end of race, which was red-flagged after 11 laps.

So what has the VX Racing team found to give the new for 2005 Astra an extra squirt of pace?

“Nothing really, I’ve just pulled my finger out”, said Turkington. “At the start of the year we had a car capable of qualifying on pole and we have really done anything different. There was a test last week but it was wet so the guys didn’t really learn anything there. We just sort of got our heads together and just went back to that way.”

Turkington’s first race win at Croft was very much unchallenged, with his VX Racing teammate in second and preventing those behind from mounting a challenge for the lead.

He added, “No race is ever easy, but I wasn’t put under too much pressure. The car’s got good pace on it, so I was able to get out the front and keep it there. I think I had three seconds by the end of it. That’s a pretty healthy lead, so it was relatively straightforward.”

It was Muller’s turn to lead home a VX Racing 1-2 in the second race of the day, in what was the Frenchman’s third win of the season. He built up even more of a gap than Turkington managed in race one, but still insists he had to work for the win.

“Maybe it looked easy, but it wasn’t”, said Muller. “The start was very important for sure, and when I took the lead at the first corner, I was very focused for two reasons. To push hard to try and do the fastest lap, because that is another point, and to try and make a gap between me and the other ones. So, I was pushing very, very hard for ten laps. Then I had a five second lead, so I was driving safely.”

"I can’t predict the future. I am a bit surprised with our performance here. I have no idea how it will be at Mondello.   - Yvan Muller

So with Muller and Turkington dominating the first two races of the day, it looked as though a turnaround in the fortunes of the Vauxhall team may be on the cards. But the topsy-turvy nature of the BTCC was once again evident in race three. Team Halfords’ Dan Eaves started from pole thanks to the reverse grid rule, and both he and teammate Matt Neal benefited from low-ballast cars to secure their own 1-2 finish. Turkington and Muller could only manage eighth and ninth places respectively.

Turkington said of the weekend, “I’m delighted really. The season started off well, but then I just struggled for a bit of pace the last two races. But we’ve worked hard and got a good setup on the car. All credit to the lads.”

“I’ve had a couple of flashes of speed, but no real results to back it up. A couple of seconds but it’s always good to get the win, and hopefully we’ve turned the corner here. We’ve hit on a good setup.”

Muller said, “Yeah, the weekend has been good until the third race. I’m a bit disappointed with the third race. But it is like this. It was predictable that the third race would be hard.”

The two victorious VX teammates had a battle of their own on race three, which saw Turkington pass Muller on the final lap.

Muller’s take on the incidents was as follows: “I tried to pass the SEAT and Colin came beside me and pushed me a bit out at the quick corner. That was a big risk between two cars from the same team.”

While it was a successful weekend for VX Racing at Croft, Matt Neal left the North Yorkshire circuit with an extended championship lead. The second half of the 2005 season looks set to be closer than the first, but whether Triple Eight can step up their game to make up ground on the impressive Team Halfords Integras remains to be seen.

Asked if he felt they had turned a corner, Muller was cautious, “I have no idea. I can’t predict the future. I am a bit surprised with our performance here. I have no idea how it will be at Mondello.”

By Matt Lamprell